Rain Dampens Phuket Visit—Feb. 15-18, 2022

 My hotel was near the famous Bangla walking street filled with restaurants, bars, and go-go bars.  Unfortunately, the driver dropped me off at another now closed Amici Miei Guesthouse about 5 blocks from the one that was still open.

Although the staff was very friendly, and the place was just 525 Baht—$16 USD—per night, I was disappointed to see that the room had no windows and there was some mold in the shower grout. 

When I entered the Bangla walking street, they had everyone entering do a temperature check and hand sanitizing.  I found my way to the seafood food court where many of the staff were putting up tents over their yellow tables and chair because they expected rain.

Right after I ordered, the rains came—gentle at first and then a downpour.  I was one of the few customers that remained eating.  When I finished, I bought an umbrella for just 100 Baht, so I could walk about a bit checking out the various venues.  Most of the beer bars filled with beer hostesses were open, but I did not see any go-go bars nor were the girls or ladyboys doing pole dancing at the beer bars like the last time I was here.

I had attended Lake Washington Senior High School in Kirkland, WA and our mascot was a kangaroo so I enjoyed taking a picture of this namesake bar.

I enjoyed some of the live band performances before heading back to my hotel just a block off Bangla street.

The next day was Buddha Day celebrated the first year of the gathering of his 1,000 or so devotees.  On this day throughout Thailand, no alcohol is sold nor served.  All of the bars and entertainment venues were closed for the day.  I enjoyed going down to the beach area to check out the parasailers heading up, around, and down again—something I may try in the future.  

Along the beachfront, there was also a group of energetic Zumba dancers following their leaders. 

The following day, it continued to rain throughout the day which precluded some beach time. 

By evening the rains had dissipated so the Bangla walking street along with its many beer bars was filled with customers.  I even found a couple of go-go bars that were discretely open in some of the passageways past the beer bars.

Again, I enjoyed a number of live band performances before heading back to the hotel for an early morning departure.

One of the things that I had not mentioned before is that there is universal mask-wearing along the streets, public, and private transportation—everywhere except when you are eating or drinking which kind of explains why so many people like to linger in bars and restaurants.  I saw this mural along the beach road that sums up what people feel about COVID 19.

I was planning to take a bus back to Bangkok which would have been a 15-hour long agonizing bus ride, but Rita, the travel agent, who I started to book the bus, told me I should fly back since it would only be an hour and a half and cost just about 700 Baht more.  The Lion Air—famous for the 737 MAX crash—the flight was 1,600 Baht—$50 USD— and the private taxi was 400 Baht. If I had taken the bus, it was about 900 Baht plus a 400 Baht taxi to the bus station.

One aside about Lion Air and the Boeing 737 MAX crash is that I watched the newly released Netflix documentary called “Downfall, The Case Against Boeing” which chronicles how corporate greed overruled engineering safety.  Engineering safety was the hallmark of Boeing when it was located in Seattle before it merged with McDonnell-Douglas and moved its headquarters to Chicago.  It then became a financial management company and began to emphasize quarterly stockholder profits over engineering safety and quality control.  

There was lots of blame to throw around among the regulators like FAA and Boeing which covered up its engineering faults by blaming the pilots and foreign air companies.  Truly shameful.  There should have been criminal penalties instead of civil monetary settlements.

Rita, my travel agent, met me just before 7 am to drive me to the Phuket airport about an hour drive for 400 Baht since the shuttle buses would not have gotten me there in time.  On the way to the airport she told me that with COVID 19, she had shut her booking/tour company for about 2 years and had just reopened it about 3 months ago when foreign tourists were again allowed to re-enter Thailand. She said she only drives the car for customers.  Otherwise, to get to work, she shares a motorbike with a neighbor and splits the gas expenses when she comes to work.

It was a comfortable and full flight.  We landed at the Don Muang Airport which used to be the main international airport before the new one was built.  I walked out of the airport and took some stairs down to the roadway where I caught the first bus and asked to be dropped off at the nearest SkyTrain station.  It cost just 20 Baht and the SkyTrain was another 44 Baht to the Nana Station just a block from the Majestic Suites where I would stay for two nights before heading to Ko Samet for a week.

I have recently uploaded all of my travel videos to YouTube now that they allow longer uploads and you may want to see my Peru Adventures there as well as my other travel videos.  That link is https://www.youtube.com/c/huntforgold  

If you do go there, please subscribe to my video channel since it will help me eventually get some income there and help with my future travels. Fewer people are using DVDs so I am transitioning to streaming my travels on my YouTube channel.

Boats to Krabi—Feb. 12–15, 2022

On the morning of February 12th, I took the large catamaran from Ko Tao to Ko Pho-Ngan which took us an hour, followed by a 20-passenger speed boat to Surat Thani that took another hour.  The tour company then had us board different minibusses to our destinations.  I headed to Ao Nang Beach, Krabi,  an hour away. The cost was 1,300 Baht—$40 USD.

The driver dropped me off at the Palace Ao Nang Resort—$18 USD per night— in the Ao Nang area of Krabi during a rain, thunder, and lightning storm.  I took a quick dash from the minibus to the hotel reception area and quickly got to my room.  Here is a view down to the pool and the huge karst in the background. The resort is just a block away from the beach and the many long-tail boats that would take you on tours or travel to the nearby Railay Beach.

After a couple of hours, the rains stopped so I was able to walk along the beachfront walkway and stop for dinner.

After dinner, I enjoyed visiting two entertainment venues.  The small Beach Bar was just across from the beach about a block away from my hotel and featured jazz performers.

The other place was larger and across from the hotel.  It featured a variety of performers including a guitarist and a few loud bands that played many favorites ranging from the Beatles, Eagles, Nirvana, and A/C D/C.

I spent 3 days in Ao Nang, Krabi, and the highlight was the all-day boat trip recommended by the hotel staff which included snorkeling, lunch on Phi Phi Island, Monkey Bay, Viking Caves, Bamboo Island, and Maya Bay —about 8 stops on this one.  The cost was just 1,200 Baht—$37 USD—which is a big discount over the holiday charge of 2,800 baht—$86 USD. 

On this snorkel trip, all but one other passengers were Thais.  Some of the women were Muslim and when we snorkeled they swam with all their clothes on, including their hijabs.

Here is a view of Chicken Island on our way to visit several islands and snorkel.

We snorkeled in Lobsamah Bay, Pileh Bay, and Bamboo Island.

Even the rain squall did not stop us from snorkeling.

Here is a monkey we spotted on Monkey Island.

Here are the Viking Caves where birds’ nests are harvested for use in making birds’ nest soup.

We toured the Maya Bay made famous by the movie “The Beach” starring Leo DiCaprio.  After several years of closure due to overexposure, this beach was open for tourists, but there was no longer swimming allowed, nor were any boats allowed into the bay.  Instead, our boat dropped us off a dock on the other side of the island along with hundreds of other tourists and boats and we had an hour to enjoy the now pristine beach. 

Maya Bay drop-off point for tourists and their boats.

I am at pristine Maya Bay which was featured in the movie “The Beach” where boats are no longer allowed to enter nor moor nor is swimming allowed. It is enforced by whistle-blowing park police who are paid some of the 200 Baht admission fees to this park.

Boats queue up to pick up returning passengers.  No docking allowed.

Hordes of tourists returning after visiting Maya Bay.

On Phi-Phi Island, we had lunch at a huge dining area where we enjoyed a buffet lunch with hundreds of other tourists from many of the other tour boats.  It seemed like most of these tourists were Thais as well.  At my table, there were a group of 8 women who came from Trang and were eager to practice their English as well as share plates of watermelon and pineapple.

Our last stop was on Bamboo Island where a whole fleet of tour boats was moored along the sandy beach and the nearby coral was filled with all types of fish and sea creatures.  While swimming, I got nipped a few times by some aggressive white fish and that was enough snorkeling for me.

On my last night in Krabi, I again enjoyed the two music venues I had enjoyed the night before.

In the morning I awoke to a big rainstorm and spent my time having breakfast and lunch at a nearby restaurant.  Afterward while waiting for the afternoon departure, I enjoyed relaxing at the hotel pool while the rain continued.

The minibus took me and a few other passengers to the Krabi Harbor. We traversed three huge tourist boats that were moored before we boarded a smaller 20-passenger speedboat bound for Phuket Harbor about an hour away across some rough seas.  Once there, the tour company provided a minibus ride to our hotels.  The cost of this scenic trip from the hotel in Krabi to the hotel in Phuket was 1,300 Baht—$40 USD—which was the same as I paid for the trip from Ko Tao to Krabi.

Our boat is passing Poda Island.

I have recently uploaded all of my travel videos to YouTube now that they allow longer uploads and you may want to see my Peru Adventures there as well as my other travel videos.  That link is https://www.youtube.com/c/huntforgold  

If you do go there, please subscribe to my video channel since it will help me eventually get some income there and help with my future travels. Fewer people are using DVDs so I am transitioning to streaming my travels on my YouTube channel.

Ko Tao Wonders—Feb. 9–12, 2022

 I took an early minibus to the boat bound for Ko Tao.  To travel to the island, passengers had to fill out an online application for COVID-19 tracking which included the number and type of vaccinations they had, a COVID-19 negative test within 72 hours of travel, the hotel they came from, and where you are staying on Ko Tao.  Our catamaran speedboat made it to Ko Tao in about an hour and on the way we passed by Ko Pha-Ngan which is well known for its all-night Full Moon Parties along the Hat Rin beach.

My Thai dentist, Dr. Pacheree,  recommended seeing this island and when she showed me some of the scenery there, I adjusted my travel plans to include this visit.  She also indicated that this was a major world-class diving location with lots of dive shops there to train tourists who want to learn how to scuba dive.

As we approached the island, I was struck by the rugged coastline with all of the huge boulders and rocks that lined the shoreline.  Also, the light blue waters included huge stripes of darker waters where the coral grew.  I learned that during the COVID-19, lockdown, the Ko Tao community began an aggressive program to reseed the coral and create fish nests with plans to charge a small fee to tourists to cover the costs of this conservation program.

I had booked the Blue Wave House just a short walk up from the pier which had discounted the cost of the room by 70% so I ended up with a great room for just 534 Baht per night—$16 USD.  

The receptionist recommended an all-day snorkel trip around the island for 500 Baht.  The high season price for this all-day snorkel trip was 900 Baht—$28 USD.  Here are some pictures of my room and other sights.  No pool nor beachside, but the price was right and it is very clean and modern. 

I took a mile and half walk to Sairee Beach with its many restaurants, bars, and dive shops where I enjoy some great food and views of the area as the sunset.  The Lonely Planet guide indicated that this place is jumping from dusk to dawn, but that is not what I saw.  Instead, many entertainment places like the Queen Cabaret were shuttered as were over half of the dive shops and this is the high season where prices are normally at their peak and rooms are hard to find.  Not so on this trip.

Just as I returned to the hotel, the sky opened up and it was a downpour.  This seems to be the norm.

The snorkel trip began with a 2 hour stop at Nang Yuan Island where we could snorkel to see coral and many types of fish.  We first began with a climb up to the viewpoint that looked down to the island and the sand spits joining these small islands.

I joined up with two other tourists during the snorkeling.  Didi was from Austria and Natalie was from Holland and both were solo travelers like me.  Natalie was on a 2-week vacation from work and Didi was a brain cancer survivor and had a question mark scar on the top of his head.  He attributed his recovery to being a vegetarian and becoming a yoga instructor.  He looked in top shape as he jumped off the 4-meter platform on the boat.  I took the more conservative approach and took the water slide.  

My two underwater cameras did a pretty good job of capturing some of the underwater activity of the fish and clams and other creatures as well as the varied coral.  Some were big lumps and others were delicate draperies or different colors.  The water was a bit turgid because of the continuing storms passing through, but it was a wonderful experience and we spent about 4 hours in the water at the five places we stopped at.

The last place we snorkeled at was called Shark Bay where many of us followed a huge turtle as it cruised along the bottom.  Some saw the small sharks, but I did not.

If anyone wants to learn how to scuba dive this would be the place.  The water is bathtub warm, there are many diving places out further from shore where the coral is more varied and the fish are larger.  I enjoyed the snorkeling and was frequently joined by diving boats that were initiating new divers in these shallower waters.

I did not see it, but this place is also popular for ‘free diving’ which is where people descend without scuba gear and learn how to hold their breaths.  Some say that they can go as deep as 100 meters—not for me.

Ban Mae Hat Main Street.

This water seller is filling up his “pure” water bottles.

Tattoos galore on this snorkeler.

I booked a boat/bus to Krabi through the hotel receptionist. which would take all day, starting with a big catamaran to Ko Phanang and then transferring to a speedboat followed by a minibus to Krabi.  I have found these tour companies really do a great job of getting you from one place to another without having to cobble together a trip by going to the various ferry and bus stations.  With COVID 19 there are added bargains in the cost of these trips, except there are fewer options than pre-COVID-19.

First boat to Ko Pha-Nang.

The second boat to Surat Thani.

With my stay in Ko Tao over, I headed to Krabi.

I have recently uploaded all of my travel videos to YouTube now that they allow longer uploads and you may want to see my Peru Adventures there as well as my other travel videos.  That link is https://www.youtube.com/c/huntforgold  

If you do go there, please subscribe to my video channel since it will help me eventually get some income there and help with my future travels. Fewer people are using DVDs so I am transitioning to streaming my travels on my YouTube channel.